The aim of the present study was to compare the biopharmaceutical properties of novel hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) two-piece hard capsules and classic hard gelatine capsules using metoclopramide hydrochloride as a model drug. Both immediate-release and prolonged-release oral and rectal formulations were developed using lactose or different viscosity grades of HPMC powders (K100 and K4M) as diluents. Randomised, cross-over, single-dose studies were conducted with three different groups of healthy volunteers. The first group was orally administered capsules diluted with lactose only, while the second group was administered the same capsules rectally. The third group was orally administered capsules diluted either with HPMC K100 or K4M powder and rectally administered capsules diluted with HPMC K100 powder. Following the oral administration of the capsules diluted with lactose, the only significant statistical difference was in the t value, which was higher for the gelatine capsules. Following the rectal administration of the same capsules, the t lag , t max and C max /AUC values were significantly higher for the HPMC capsules, but the capsule shell material did not affect the bioavailability of metoclopramide. It was concluded from the immediate-release formulations that oral capsules could be regarded as interchangeable, whereas the rectal ones were so only when rapid action was not desired. When the diluent was HPMC, there were no significant statistical differences between the two different capsule shells following oral administration. Following rectal administration, the t lag value was significantly higher for the HPMC capsules than for the gelatine capsules. With prolonged-release formulations, the higher t lag value of the HPMC capsules would probably be of no practical significance. Hence it was concluded that the biopharmaceutical properties of prolonged-release HPMC capsules were comparable to those of corresponding gelatine capsules.


Diseases in fruit are the reason of destroying and economic losses and agriculture field. A solution of this problem for the detection and classification of apple fruit diseases is considered and experimentally validated. The image processing based considered approach consists of the following three steps, in the first step rgb to gray conversion, median filtering, edge detection, and morphological operations are used for the image segmentation. In the second step shape approximation technique are used for feature extraction, histogram of chain code and density of pixel widely used for feature extraction from the segmented image, both feature extraction technique are compared and in the third steps images are classified classes by using a different kernel in Multi-class Support Vector Machine. Comparison of all kernels is done and better results are indicated. Our experimental results express that support vector machine with radial basis kernel achieves best classification accuracy of 98%. KeywordImage segmentation, feature extraction, support vector machine, chain code, energy density


Objective of this study is to develop an optical properties measurement system and to estimate performance of the system. A double integrating sphere setup and an inverse Monte Carlo technique are combined to determine the optical properties of biological tissues. Our optical properties measurement system is confirmed by simulations and experiments with a turbid material which is composed of hemoglobin and aqueous suspensions of lipid droplets or polystyrene latex particle suspension. The system offers desired level of accuracy. These results are considered to be evidence that the system is able to measure the tissue optical properties.


As the UK has moved towards a mass higher education system, there have been pressures to change the curriculum and how it is delivered. At the same time, there has been a growing emphasis on widening access and on an inclusive approach to education. Recent renewed interest in learning styles to some extent reflects these developments. But are some classifications more useful than others in developing an inclusive approach? This article takes four classifications of 'learning styles' and looks at how they relate to curriculum values. They are field dependence/independence, holistic/sequential, styles linked to the experiential learning cycle, and 'deep' and 'surface' learning. The author also draws on research at Sheffield Hallam University into the learning styles of GNVQ students, and on experience as a teacher educator in the post-compulsory sector.


In ths paper a perspective about the progress and the impact of sicence and technology, since the establishment of the first universities until today, on the...


RICHARD H. HILL is Vice President/Programming Systems Division of Informatics Inc., Sherman Oaks, California. A founding member of the Informatics staff, he has been a manager and executive in the near-new software industry for six years. Before helping form Informatics he spent a year and a half with the Ramo-Wooldridge Division of TRW, Inc. His start in the computer business came at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he helped organize and then manage the Western Data Processing Center in 1956, after a series of administrative assignments on the University of California staff. As the holder of BA (1949) and MA (1951) degrees in English literature, Hill is something of a maverick in a field dominated by engineers and mathematicians. He has, however, a substantial list of technical achievements in systems programming and even in digital computer design in addition to long experience in management of computer activities. He has handled numer-


The Philippines has made significant strides in elevating awareness on gender equality as evidenced by women empowerment in the country. Results of the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) showed that a large majority, almost eight in every 10 women age 15 to 49 years make their own informed decisions regarding sexual relations, contraceptive use and reproductive health care. This is a positive development especially in relation to ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights (Target 5.6.1). This is in line with Goal 5 of gender equality and empowerment all women and girls under the of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Using data from the NDHS 2017, the study further looked at the characteristics of women gaining empowerment and correlated it spousal violence. Twelve thousand five hundred twenty currently married women age 15-49 who completed the domestic violence module were identified for this study. A composite Women Empowerment Index (WEI) was developed based on nine variables: (1) education, (2) employment for cash, (3) control over one's own cash earnings, (4) control over men's earnings, (5) ownership of house or lot, (6) has and uses a bank account, (7) mobile phone ownership, (8) household decision-making, and (9) attitude towards wife-beating. The WEI was classified into three empowerment levels, whereby 42, 24, and 34 percent of married women were in high, moderate, and low empowerment levels, respectively. Fourteen percent of women reported having experienced spousal violence (either physical and/or sexual) during their lifetime. Bivariate analysis shows that as women empowerment increases in level, the odds of having experienced spousal violence significantly decreases, even after adjusting for age, residence, wealth and number of living children. Programs and policies should also look into the economic status and fertility levels of women as evidenced by the effects of wealth and number of living children on spousal violence. This study has examined the relationship between women empowerment and spousal violence. High levels of empowerment may result in a lower or the absence of spousal violence. Hence, policies and programs that promotes women empowerment and reduce spousal violence will have a substantial effect on Filipino women and children.


Functional gradient takes a specific position in various fields of research. Functionally graded materials (FGM) are highly respected regarding their nonconstant, FG certain property. A virtual geometrical model of a heaven-and-hell-origami-like object is known from previous research. Its parts exhibit a FG shape, and, originally, they are not planar elements. An objective of this paper is to present a given origami-like object from two aspects: a) reconfigurability of the object and b) modular origami-like structure, mori, created by composing several mentioned origami-like objects. All activities are done by using parametric equations of the relevant components as well as via those linear transformations, which conserve shape and size of elements and in such a way they correspond to robotic motions, known at the current level of knowledge. The findings based on geometrical "wings" and "shackles" - possibilities and limitations - are stated. Potential applications, educational use as well as Easter egg ("secret" feature) are sketched.


It is widely believed that a family n of unsat-issable formulae deened by Cook and Reckhow Proc. of the ACM Symp. on Theory of Comp. 1974] gives a lower bound of O(2 2 n) on the proof size with analytic tableaux. This claim plays a key role in the proof that tableaux cannot polynomially simulate tree resolution. We show that it is wrong by exhibiting an analytic tableau proof whose size has an upper bound of O(n 2 n 2), which, although not polynomial in the size (2 n) of the input formula, is exponentially shorter than the claimed lower bound. We claim that the pitfall, in that and other papers, is due to the blurring of n-ary and binary versions of tableaux.


in the pulmonary vascular bed.2 In fact, PGFa was more than 10 times as active as serotonin in increasing resistance to flow in the canine pulmonary vascular bed.2 In subsequent studies, it was shown that prosta- glandin synthesis and release by the lung were enhanced by a number of pathophysiologic conditions including anaphylaxis, pulmonary embolization and pulmonary edema.2 In addition to the findings that the lung had a marked capacity to synthesize prostaglandins and that these substances had marked vasomotor activity in this organ, it has been documented that the lung is the major organ for metabolism of prostaglandins in the body.2 Therefore, alterations in synthesis and metabo- lism of prostaglandins in the lung would affect function, not only in the airways and pulmonary vascular bed,


Air traffic complexity indicators play an essential role in measuring operational performance and controller workload. However, current studies mainly depend on the manual scoring method to scale performance or workload. This paper focuses on arrival operations and presents a data-driven strategy to establish the correlation between complexity and performance to avoid the subjectivity of the currently used manual scoring method. Firstly, we present twenty-six indicators for describing air traffic complexity and two indicators for arrival operational performance. Secondly, the clustering method distinguishes peak and off-peak situations for arrival operation. Moreover, clustering results are compared to investigate the correlation between complexity and performance initially. Thirdly, the classification method is adopted to determine such correlation further. In addition, we also identify the affecting factors which could influence operational performance. Finally, trajectories of arrival aircraft landing at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (ZGGG) are used for case validation. The results indicate that there is a strong correlation between complexity and performance. The accuracy and precision of classification are approximately 90%. Furthermore, the number of aircraft significantly impacts the arrival operational performance within TMA.


Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyse Mexico's money laundering governance with a focus on its 2007-2013 reform process. It provides a view of money laundering governance as a politically contested policy area and a reflection on the reach and purpose of the international regime promoted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Design/methodology/approach – The analysis uses an actor-centred approach on governance structures relating groups of public and private actors with competing policy preferences. Findings – Three ideal-typical groups of actors are identified. Of these, the Financial Integrity and Criminal Enforcement Groups were central proponents of prevention- and prosecution-based policies, respectively. While criminal enforcement was initially sidelined, its role was strengthened in Mexico since 2007. Despite early signs of success, diverging policy preferences between these groups continue to complicate money laundering governance in Mexico through a complex distribution of tas...


This paper discusses the design and implementation issues facing developers of microcomputer-based personnel management systems (PMS) at small and medium-sized transit agencies. A case study, focusing on the implementation of a specific PMS at Sun-Tran of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is presented to illustrate these issues. The design of the PMS at Sun-Tran was conducted using a classic top-down/requirements analysis approach.


[English asbtract]

A short write up giving a birds eye view of the history of the first library of the world - Alexandria Library, established by Ptolemy in BC 283. It covers the methods for classification of knowledge employed by the library, information on the scholars who headed the institution in different times, the facilities it offered for the research scholars and the public, its contribution to knowledge which can equate it with any great universities of the present day world and the causes for its destruction. The article mentions the present attempts to rebuild the Alexandria library.


Since the discovery in 1990 of a relatively simple arc method to synthesize gram quantities of carbon cage molecules (fullerenes), considerable research effort has been expended to understand the molecular and solid-state properties of fullerenes and fullerene-derived materials. Raman scattering has played an important role in this effort which has focused on the fullerene C60, and to a lesser extent C70. From Raman spectra and their comparison with model andab initiocalculations, fundamental questions regarding the intramolecular bonds, the structure and properties of crystalline, fullerene-derived solids, including the superconducting K3C60 and Rb3C60 compounds, have been addressed and largely understood. Raman scattering has also been used to probe pressure- and temperature-driven phase transitions and the photopolymerization of fullerenes in the solid state, in addition to the bonding of fullerene molecules to metal substrates. In this review the highlights of this Raman scattering research are discussed. Brief introductory remarks concerning the discovery and structure of fullerenes are also given.


From the Gadamerian hermeneutics we expose a way of understanding tradition, mainly when it acquires a textual form, addressing the way in which the understanding of a text is possible by different mediations. Translation as a mediation is understood as an understanding appropriation, since it is not a mere passage from one language to another, but a task carried out by the translator where his or her understanding is already involved. This is relevant because it allows to raise questions for those texts that are part of traditions of thought distant geographically, temporarily, and even intellectually from ours but thanks to translations, they have influenced it or even given it particularities, as in the case of Pedagogy.


The bulk viscosity μb is generally set equal to zero (Stokes' hypothesis). For certain gases, such as CO2, μb/μ exceeds 103, where μ is the shear viscosity. In this circumstance, the bulk viscosity may substantially alter a hypersonic boundary layer. A general, nonsimilar, laminar, boundary‐layer formulation is provided in which the bulk viscosity terms are included as a correction. To obtain explicit results, flow over a flat plate is considered. In addition to the heat transfer, the transverse pressure gradient inside the boundary layer is not zero, whereas the skin friction is unaltered by the bulk viscosity. This analysis is relevant to aerogravity‐assisted maneuvers in planetary atmospheres that largely consist of CO2.


Computer science (CS) is a popular but often challenging major for undergraduates. As the importance of computing in the US and world economies continues to grow, the demand for successful CS majors grows accordingly. However, retention rates are low, particularly for underrepresented groups such as women and racial minorities. Computing education researchers have begun to investigate causes and explore interventions to improve the success of CS students, from K-12 through higher education. In the undergraduate CS context, for example; student difficulties with pointers, functions, loops, and control flow have been observed. We and others have utilized student responses to multiple choice questions aimed at determining misconceptions, engaged in retroactive examination of code samples and design artifacts, and conducted interviews in an attempt to understand the nature of these problems. Interventions to address these problems often apply evidenced-based active learning techniques in CS classrooms as a way to engage students and improve learning. In this work, I employ a human-centered approach, one in which the focus of data collection is on the student thought processes as evidenced in their speech and writing. I seek to determine what students are thinking not only through what can be surmised in retrospect from the artifacts they create, but also to gain insight into their thoughts as they engage in the design, implementation, and analysis of those artifacts and as they reflect on those processes and artifacts shortly after. For my dissertation work, I have conducted four studies: 1. a conceptual assessment survey asking students to "Please explain your reasoning" after each answer to code tracing/execution questions followed by task-based interviews with a smaller, different group of students 2. a "coding in the wild" think aloud study that recorded the screen and audio of students as


Introduction: Emergency laparotomy (EL) is a common operation that deals with a wide range of pathologies. Preoperative optimization is often lacking due to the urgent nature of the disease process with a reported mortality rate of up to 44%. This study examines the mortality of EL at an academic acute care surgery medical center. Methods: A retrospective analysis of nontrauma EL from January 2008 to December 2013 was conducted. Data included demographics, clinical features, preoperative laboratory studies, comorbidities, time to surgery, ICU admission, and 30-day mortality. Results: A total of 234 patients (123 males, 52.6%) were included in the study. EL was performed within four hours (immediate) of presentation in 93 (39.7%) patients, within 4-12 hours (early) in 53 (25.4%) patients, and within 12-24 hours (late) in 63 (30.1%) patients. Overall mortality was 16 (6.8%) at 30 days. Mortality was significantly higher with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (p = 0.014), blood transfusion (p < 0.001), ICU admission (p < 0.001), ventilator days > four (p = 0.013), hyperlipidemia (p = 0.014), heart rate > 90 beats/minute (p = 0.003), temperature > 38°C or < 35°C (p = 0.013), and systolic blood pressure < 90 mmHg (p < 0.001). Conclusion: EL can be performed with lower mortality than previously reported. Specific predictors of mortality are identified and can be used for risk assessment.


The method of calculating cavity dimension is based on average shrinkage of the material.This method is efficient under normal condition, but avoidable in special case.In this paper,the inadequacy of the calculation formula used now for the cavity dimension of injection mold has been analyzed, and the formula is modified accordingly.Because of the complexity of the part, the mold dimension number is huge.Based on the feature information model of the part,the dimensions of the plastic part are automatically transformed into the working dimensions of the cavity.


Midwifery unions have given their overwhelming backing to the government's decision to implement in full the recommendations of the Changing Childbirth report.


One of the crucial tools of war this century has been psychology, enlisted to manipulate the ideas, attitudes, conclusions and' tolerance levels of civilians and soldiers. Psychological warfare is, in fact, older than this century but the scale of its use and the central place it came to occupy in national strategy, first during the First World War and then at a greatly increased level in the Second World War, locates it as a one of the defining features of the twentieth century. During the First World War allied forces dropped a total of 26million propaganda leaflets.1 By the end of the Second World War the Royal Air Force had dropped 6000 million leaflets in Europe and the United States Tactical Air Force dropped another 8000 million.2 In 1944 and 1945, in the European theatre alone, Britain and the United States of America allocated a combined personnel of 4600 people to the special psychological warfare division under the direct command of Supreme Headquarters. Two squadrons of Flying Fortresses were allotted to leaflet dropping. As General Eisenhower explained, psychological warfare had become' a special and most effective weapon of war'.3 Adolf Hitler agreed with him, arguing that the British had secured military victory in the First World War primarily because of the effective propaganda campaigns the government launched on its own citizens.4 The British government had barely finished dismantling its psychological warfare organisations when the National Socialists established a propaganda ministry in their first week of power to train recruits in the practices that the British had used


In this article, the effect of soil properties and earthquakes on a structure built in a multi-layer foundation soil is studied using Abaqus/СAЕ. Single foundations are one of the most common types of foundations traditionally required to support buildings in earthquake-prone regions. Most researchers work on the dynamic interaction between the foundation and the soil, which can affect the response of the building during earthquakes due to the type of earthquake and the properties of the soil layer. In this paper, four different earthquakes were applied to a reinforced concrete building constructed in two-layer soils with very different soil properties, and a discussion on soil-structure interaction was opened using Abaqus software. In the analysis, a layered soil is simulated with 4 different models (soft-hard, hard-soft). Through these analyses, the influence of the different soil layers (soft and hard), the building displacement and the frequency content of the earthquake were studied. According to the result of the analysis, it is important to consider the earthquake characteristics, the soil properties, and the type of foundation in the dynamic soil-structure interaction.


This paper presents a rebinning method for the reconstruction from Compton scattered conical projection data. Our rebinning method converts the 3-D conical projection data set into a stack of 2-D parallel projection data set so that a variety of existing 2-D analytical reconstruction methods developed for conventional emission tomography can be directly used for Compton imaging. In our rebinning method, the following three steps are performed. (i) A cone surface is sampled with a serial of lines that pass through the apex of the cone. (ii) By using the rotating imaginary planes, which are perpendicular to the transaxial (x-y) plane and parallel to the z axis, the sampled projection lines, which are mostly perpendicular to the imaginary planes, are sorted at each rotation angle. (iii) The sorted lines, most of which are oblique in the transaxial plane, are approximated to equivalent 2-D parallel projections in the transaxial plane using the Fourier rebinning (FORE) technique. Since our method is very fast, it can be useful for rapidly reconstructing Compton scattered data using fast analytical reconstruction methods.


Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) have been pushed to the forefront in the past decade, owing to the advert of the Internet of Things. Our research suggests that the reliability and lifetime performance of a typical application in WSNs depends crucially on a set of parameters. In this paper, we implemented our experiments on the nearest closer protocol with the J-Sim simulation tool. We then analyze the closure relationships among the density, reliability and lifetime, and reveal the trade-off among them based on our analysis on the experiment results. Next, we propose five intelligent evaluation models that are applicable to such situations. Our research allows the WSN users to predict the significant evaluation parameters directly from the settings while costly simulations are no longer necessary.


In the paper a theory of human image understanding, Recognition-by-Element (RBE), is presented that suggests that the representation of an object may be a set that consists of many members, called elements, most of them are 2D projections (images) of the 3D object to the retina from a specific viewpoint, in specific illumination, specific background, and so on, these 2D images encoding, storing, and retrieving globally, the rest are other sensor inputs evoked by the object, such as voices, tastes, smells, tactilities, etc. The model can explain the implicit memory, perceptual constancies, hand and face detectors, and the cases of object recognition impairment. A computer program has been developed to simulate the RBE, the result is satisfactory.


The purpose of the research was to develop a computer model of motion of a particle on a rough vertical plane in the environment of the symbolic algebra Maple and with the help of computational experiments to find out its properties. Trajectory-kinematic characteristics of motion of particles along a rough vertical plane are established. The particle trajectories and graphs of its velocity are shown, depending on the position and different coefficients of friction and initial velocity. On the basis of the performed research it can be concluded that the motion of a particle in the vertical plane occurs in the same way as in the motion of a particle under the influence of the force of gravity in space.


Objective To provide scientific basis for assessing food safety,developing food safety standards and taking appropriate control measures through understanding the current contamination status of lead and cadmium in food in Jiangxi province.Methods Sampling and detection of food were carried out according to"Jiangxi provincial program for food safety risk monitoring". Results The concentrations of lead and cadmium were detected in 1 216 food samples of 5 categories. The detection rate of lead was 81. 3%,it was more than 96% in dried edible fungus and infant formula food,and two nuts samples were over the limit standard. While the detection rate of cadmium was 45. 7%,it was more than 95% in dried edible fungus and crab,and 18 crabs samples were over the limit standard. Conclusion The contamination of lead and cadmium is ubiquitous in food,and varied a lot in different types of foods,needing specific measures. Due to the absence of limit standard for heavy metals such as cadmium in many kinds of foods,it was suggested to increase more food safety monitoring projects covering more food categories and test items to provide available data for formulation and revision of national standards. Pollutant limits of edible fungus and its relevant products,as well as crustacean aquatic products(crabs) were not intuitive in GB2762-2012,difficult to judge the pollution level,so it is urgent to revise the standard.


This paper studies the extent to which the effective stiffness of composite materials can be impacted by the characteristic waviness of nanotubes embedded in polymers. A three-dimensional finite element model is used to investigate the effect of volume fraction and waviness on mechanical properties, i.e. Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio, of composites reinforced with waved carbon nanotubes. According to the obtained results, the nanotube waviness causes a decrease in the longitudinal and transverse Young's modulus of composites, compared to the straight nanotube reinforcement, but the change in the value of transverse Young's modulus (Eyy) is less remarkable than the longitudinal Young's modulus (Exx). Furthermore, the effect of fiber curvature on Poisson's ratio has also been studied. The results show that the curvature has not much effect on Poisson's ratio and when a fiber curvature changes, Poisson's ratio value almost remains unchanged. In addition, the effect of fiber volume fraction on the longitudinal Young's modulus and major Poisson's ratio has been studied. As the mesh density may have a significant role in evaluating the model, several different meshes have been generated in order to predict their effect on the mechanical properties of the composite.


An experiment was peformed to measure the energy released from copper after 11-Mev deuteron irradiation. Results are discussed, and it is concluded that the closepair medel of radiation damage at low temperatures is applicable. (J.R.D.)


In this research the peculiarities of educational orientation in the course of learning at the selection of 86 teenagers depending on perception of the educational group by them have been studied. Reliability of the research has been provided with the use of the relevant techniques: "Interpersonal perception in the group" (Ilyin E.P., 2011) "Orientation on knowledge acquisition" and "Orientation on a grade" (Ilyin E.P., 2002). It has been specified that the teenagers with individualistic, collectivistic and pragmatical types of interpersonal perception of the group are oriented to different extents on a grade and knowledge in the course of learning. The provided data can be used by school psychologists, counseling psychologists, in aid of teachers and parents.


Controlling the interparticle spacing in quantum dot (QD) solids is the most readily accessible way to control transport rates between neighboring QDs and a critical strategy for device optimization. Here, we use X-ray scattering to accurately measure the interparticle spacing in films of highly monodisperse lead sulfide (PbS) QDs that have undergone a variety of device-relevant ligand exchanges. We tabulate these values for use in simulations and to assist in data interpretation. We find that monothiol and dithiol ligand species typically result in interparticle spacings that are equal to the length of a single monothiol or dithiol ligand. Additionally, we find that spin-coating a thick film of QDs followed by a long-duration ligand exchange results in a significantly closer-packed arrangement than spin-coating many thin layers with short-duration ligand exchanges in between (layer-by-layer method). The former method preserves a remarkable degree of the superlattice order that was present in the film pri...


The Forward and inverse kinematics of the robot is the connection of mechanical system motion and control system. There is no closed form solution for inverse kinematics of 6 DOF robots currently. The method of numerical iterative algorithm is used usually, but which is hard to ensure the requirement of real-time and accuracy. Considering the application and characteristic of cobot, we designed the mechanical structure and distributed the 6 DOF of it. This paper uses the analytical method to get the consequence of the forward and inverse kinematics of the robot. It ensures the most important characteristics of real-time and accuracy. It can also get the singularity of the robot easily. At last, we verified the method by simulation in MATLAB.


The phenomenon of nonresponse in a sample survey reduces the precision of parameter estimates and causes the bias.The double sampling scheme have been developed to compensate for these effects with lower expenditure.When there are missing data in the second phase,two-phase sampling doesn't work well.Some measures to remedy subsample nonresponse are taken.


In this paper, the development of an innovative procedure to synthesize radar transceivers able to improve surveillance system performance, while guaranteeing spectral coexistence with surrounding Radio Frequency (RF) emitters is pursued. Specifically, to assure the desired Quality of Service (QoS) at each communication system, the interference energy induced by the radar on each licenced/shared bandwidth is finely controlled. Additionally, to ascribe relevant characteristics to the sought probing waveform, discrete phase signals complying with a similarity constraint are considered. The resulting NP-hard optimization design is handled by means of a novel iterative algorithm based on the Coordinate Descent (CD) method. Finally, numerical results are provided to show the effectiveness of the proposed design technique.


With the coming of knowledge economy, continuous product innovation capability turn out to playing a central role during organization's development. As the continuous product innovation capability mostly depends on the knowledge management level of organization, knowledge management becomes the key factor for organization to achieve substantial competitive advantage. In this perspective, the paper proposes a continuous product innovation oriented knowledge management model, and explains the elements embedded.


This paper reports several results from estimation experiments by using our new foot sensor, which is composed of a sole sensor and a rubbing mechanism for rubble walking robot. The sensor can measure every ground point's reactive force by pressing robot's legs against the ground in a given angle. There is not only stable ground but klunky ground or transformable ground or breakable ground in rubble space. Some results of our experiment shows that subtle differences are expressed by using COF (center of force) and pressure changes.


Music in Nineteenth Century Java: A Precursor to the Twentieth Century The British and the First Japanese Move into Indo-China Aftermath of Alliance: The Wartime Legacy in Thai-Japanese Relations The Politics of Disease and Disorder in Post-War Malaya Civil War and Rebellion in Burma New Buddhist Movements in Thailand: An 'Individualistic Revolution', Reform and Political Dissonance Review Article Book Reviews Responses Books Received Index for Vol. XX


Tsunami disasters are predicted to occur in the West Sumatra region due to earthquakes. To deal with the tsunami hazard that will hit Padang City, the government has built several shelters and evacuation routes. At present, the number of evacuation facilities is still limited, this will cause community vulnerability in facing tsunami hazards. To overcome this vulnerable condition, it is necessary to determine the number of shelters needed to accommodate evacuees. In this study, the determination of the required number of shelters is done by simulating the number of evacuees who choose shelters during evacuation. The model of evacuee generation from 5 tsunami-prone zones in Padang City was created using a linear regression method. The model for selecting the type of evacuation facility in each zone uses a binary logit model. Prediction of shelter needs is carried out for minimum, normal and maximum conditions that may occur. From the simulation results, the number of evacuees who choose the shelter as a means of evacuation is obtained. The number of shelters needed in Padang City is a minimum of 6 units, normal 23 units and maximum 50 units.


It is often critical for Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees to be sensitive to the presence of a threat. Whether a threat presents itself at a personal level (such as in the one-on-one interactions that occur at border crossings and airports) or a more global level (such as in general monitoring for impending danger or disaster), the more sensitive employees are to the threat the more likely it can be averted. Due to natural predisposition or personal experiences, some individuals are more sensitive to the presence of a threat than others, and it would be immensely informative to quickly and affordably identify these individuals before they are charged with the duties of DHS positions that require high threat sensitivity.


A total of 5 female elk deer (220 kg) were included in a study on the changes in physico-chemical properties of deer meat during storage at . The deers were exposed to normal pre-slaughter handling and put under anesthesia before slaughtered. The loin and leg cuts were deboned from the carcass after 24hrs slaughter. The samples weighing approximately 300 g were packaged using three packaging methods : Atmospheric packaging(A), Vacuum packaging (V) and Modified atmospheric at packaging (M: 80% +20% )and stored for 3, 7, 11, 15, 20 and 25days at . The ability of moisture maintenance tended to be decreased with the passage of storage time, and that of the meats treated with the vacuum wrapping was lower than that with other wrapping methods. TBARS values of the meats with the regardless of treatments was increased with the passage of storage time, although the values with vacuum wrapping was lowest. VBN values of the meats with the regardless of treatments was also increased with the passage of storage time, although the values with vacuum wrapping was also lowest. The pH values of the meats with the regardless of treatments was also increased with the passage of storage time, although the values with vacuum wrapping was also lowest. For the meat softness, the value of the meats treated with atmospheric packaging was increased with the passage of storage time, but the values with vacuum wrapping and modified atmospheric packaging were respectively decreased. There were no significant differences in luminosity of leg, although loin treated with vacuum wrapping was significantly brighter than that with atmospheric packaging and modified atmospheric packaging. In general, the index of red color of the meats treated with vacuum wrapping was higher than that with atmospheric packaging and modified atmospheric packaging. The index of yellow color tended to be decreased after increment for a time with the passage of storage time, although the value with vacuum wrapping was generally higher than that with other wrapping methods.


Abstract The effects of electric field on the molecular alignment in a nematic crystal are shown by the measurement of the optical retardation. The cell is a thin film of MBBA-EBBA liquid crystal mixture. The structure of this film is first homeotropic. When an AC voltage of about 4 volts is applied the optical axis lies perpendicular to the electric field (eα<0). An optical retardation is induced which increases with the applied voltage. Saturation occurs at about 20 volts. The temperature dependence on this retardation is measured. These results are explained in terms of Frank energy.


This paper summarizes the experimental results of sawdust gasification in a spout–fluid bed reactor. Three scenarios were investigated in this study. In the base case scenario, a total of 15 experiments consisting of three different flow rates (55, 65 and 75 m3 h− 1) of primary air of each of having five equivalence ratios (ER) (0.35, 0.3, 0.25, 0.2 and 0.15) were conducted. The influence of secondary air in the freeboard and the effect of the recirculation of carryover captured by the cyclone to the reactor's freeboard at an ER of 0.25 were investigated in two other scenarios. Higher heating values of 3.02 and 5.15 MJ Nm− 3 were obtained with the ER values of 0.35 and 0.15, respectively, in the base case. However, opposite trend was observed for the tar content in the producer gas. At ER of 0.35, a value of 2.35 g Nm− 3 was found compared with 8.4 g Nm− 3 at ER of 0.15. The tar content in the producer gas was reduced from 5.63 to 1.53 g Nm− 3 when secondary air was supplied in the freeboard due to an increase in temperature. The gasification efficiency was increased from 24.96% at the base case to 36.22% with the recirculation of carryover. Higher heating value of producer gas was found to be 4.2–4.4 MJ Nm− 3 in this case. The second law analysis of this process estimated the average exergy efficiency as 35.92% at ER of 0.35 and it increased with increasing ER. The recirculation of carryover not only increased the carbon conversion efficiency but also the exergy efficiency. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Notwithstanding a number of shocks over the past year, the U.S. economy is performing reasonably well. Job gains have been robust in recent years, and the unemployment rate has declined to 4.9 percent, likely close to its long-run sustainable level. After running at a subdued pace during the first half of the year, gross domestic product growth has picked up in the most recent data, and inflation has been firming toward the Federal Open Market Committee's 2 percent target.


In this article a real-time self-tuning algorithm of detecting fingers movements based on the electromyographic (EMG) sensors is developed. A multi-level input data processing from the EMG sensor with self diagnosis is suggested. It provides the identification of muscle tension, which corresponds of several types of finger movements. This solution enables to use the lowbit controllers to manipulate the prosthetic hand. The results of system modeling and testing on the Arduino nano microcontroller demonstrated that the system identifies finger movements with high accuracy.


A new approach to realize THz BWOs relaxing the assembly challenge is presented. An international consortium including UC Davis, Beijing Vacuum Electronics Research Institute (BVERI), and Lancaster University is involved in the design and fabrication of 0.346 THz BWOs to replace the bulky FIR laser at the plasma diagnostic at the NSTX-U fusion device. The use of a highly energetic beam permit and a wide channel, double corrugated waveguide permit to achieve about 4 W of output power at 0.346 THz.


The invention discloses a three-station vacuum switch tube comprising a vacuum chamber, a fixed contact assembly, a moving contact assembly and a grounding contact, wherein the grounding contact comprises a grounding contact ring and a grounding terminal, wherein the grounding terminal is electrically connected with the grounding contact ring, and a moving contact is driven by an operating mechanism to take linear back-and-forth movement between a fixed contact and the grounding contact ring; and when the moving contact, the fixed contact and the grounding contact ring are all in off states, the tolerance electric field intensity between the moving contact and the fixed contact is higher than that between the moving contact or the fixed contact and the grounding contact ring. The invention realizes the switch-on, isolation and grounding three-station functions, also not only has the advantages of compact structure, reasonable design, advanced technology, current relative standard accordance, long electrical life and mechanical life, wide application range, high safety and reliability, and the like, but also realizes that electric breakdown firstly generates between a loading terminal and a grounding terminal once vacuum degree is reduced, enables the leakage currents and the short-circuit currents to flow into earth and ensures the safety of maintenance personnel who possibly mistakenly contact the loading terminal.


Indian Economy has gone a serious change since the liberalization, privatization and globalization policy of 1991 was enacted. This paper looks at the major development of the India's growth and how did it affect the state of Madhya Pradesh. Globalization was the integration of world economies, investment was encouraged by relaxation of tariffs and extensive taxes, which indeed promoted the boom of Indian Economy. During the same time, Madhya Pradesh was facing bifurcation, into another state, once deemed as the pioneer of growth due to its extensive human capital, it now faced turmoil at the hands of confusion and disbelief in its leaders. After getting depleted of the chuck of states resources, how did the state take advantage of the national economic policy to develop the states economy and what impacts has it had over the years.


In this paper, asynchronous sensor localization using time-of-arrival (TOA) measurements is studied. Accurate TOA-based localization requires perfect timing synchronization between the source and anchor nodes. In asynchronous networks, the anchor nodes are assumed to be synchronized, while the clock of the source node needs be synchronized with those of the anchor nodes. Although synchronization and localization are typically performed separately, in this work a joint synchronization and localization framework is considered, as it is expected to provide significant improvement over two-step approaches. The clock parameters (clock offset and skew) of the source node are estimated jointly with its location. The corresponding Cramér-Rao lower bound (CRLB) and the maximum likelihood (ML) estimator of the system model are derived. The ML estimator is highly nonlinear and nonconvex which must be solved with computationally complex algorithms. Alternatively, a novel semidefinite programming (SDP) estimator is introduced by relaxing the original ML minimization problem into a convex problem. Computer simulations show that the proposed SDP estimator outperforms other previously proposed estimators.


Determination of reduction in leaf photosynthesis due to drought conditions is complicated by plant-to-plant variability in the progressive onset of drought stress. In this study a method of analysis was developed to quantitatively compare the reduction in leaf photosynthesis due to drought stress for an old and a new maize (Zea mays L.) hybrid introduced 30 yr apart in Ontario.Key words: Maize, leaf photosynthesis, drought stress, non-linear fitting, hybrid difference


THE THIRD QUARTER GENERALLY was not kind to the U.S. stock market, as the major indexes fell from levels seen at the end of the second quarter. Chemicals, however, more than bucked the trend. C&EN's index of average prices for 25 chemical company stocks increased 2.1% in the quarter to 184.8 (all C&EN indexes are 1992 = 100). In contrast, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 3.4% to 10080.3, the Standard & Poor's 500 was off 1.9% to 1114.6, and the NASDAQ fell 7.4% to 1896.8. The high for the chemical index occurred on the final trading day of the quarter. Chemical stocks, on average, also out-performed share prices at major pharmaceutical companies and at biotechnology and drug discovery firms. C&ENs biotechnology index fell a whopping 8.8% to 418.4,a larger decline than that of the NASDAQ, where most biotech stocks are listed. And the index for nine major drug-makers declined 7.5% to 343.2, although ...


This paper investigates the potential benefits of photovoltaic (PV) panels on electric vehicles. In addition to the PV panels on the roof of the car, in this study a PV panel is installed below the windshield to increase energy capture when the car is parked. An electro-mechanical actuator makes the PV panel disappear under the roof when the passengers are in the vehicle. The paper presents the simulation model of the overall PV architecture, including the DC/DC converter and the energy storage system. Based on recorded temperature and solar irradiance profiles, the model calculates the energy input and the corresponding range extension. The resulting values are discussed for a prototype four-wheel- drive urban electric vehicle operating in five European locations.


Parallel-running West and Smith streets form the hub of sprawling. ever-expanding Durban. The city's most prosperous stores and most prestige office-blocks are lined up in between and alongside these two traffic lanes. West Street is the official main street and the accredited favourite -a fact which comes into evidence every time a central building is erected and rentals on the Smith Street side are found to be considerably lower. However, these two streets are


Error estimates of optimal order are proved for semidiscreteand completely discrete nite element methods for a linear wave equation with strong damping, arising in viscoelastic theory. It is demonstrated that the exact solution may be interpreted in terms of an analyticsemigroup, and as a result that, althoughthe solution has essentially the spatial regularity of its initial data, it is innnitely diierentiablein time for t > 0. The estimates for the spatially discrete method are derived by energy arguments. Rational approximation of analytic semigroups is discussed in a general setting, by means of spectral representation, and the results are used to analyze the completely discrete schemes. Both smooth (and compatible) and less smooth data are considered.


The present study is intended to illustrate the effects of different disturbed habitat to the quantity of soil microorganism,soil of two types of construction project disturbance such as abandoned dreg site and construction access road of Jayan Hydropower Station of Pudu River in Luquan,Yunnan was selected as study object,three soil types which undisturbed(forest land,shrub land,farmland)were selected as the control.The quantity and total quantity of bacteria,fungi and actinomyces of disturbed and undisturbed five types of soil were measured by soil sampling,flat surface smearing method and dilution method.The results were as follows :the engineering construction disturbed degree of impact on microbial number of three kinds of soil are not identical,bacteria and fungi the surface soil of 0~40 cm were great reduced.Among three kinds of microbe in different disturbed habitats,bacteria was the most popular,fungi and actinomyces were less.The disturbed and undisturbed soil microbial quantity habitats both had obvious differences in vertical distribution.Except for the residue field,where the microorganism amount increased along with the soil depth,the amount of other four habitats of microorganism decreased along with the soil depth.


Water Detecting Sensor using solid state protonic conductor has been developed for Gas Insulated Swicthgear. Ttriethlenediaminesulfate was selected as protonic conductor with which elcterochemical sensor was constructed. The water detecting characteristics and its reliabilities were examined. The sensor detected water concentration from several ppm to about 2000ppm (at 5ata) as an output electric current, and was able to detect sufficiently water of 50ppm (at 5ata) which was the targeted value of the sensor. The mechanical strength increased by adding a polymer in the electrolyte. We also examined the influence to an output characteristic by the polymer addition and reliability. We proposed that without heating process was preferable in constructing sensor.


The spondylocostal dysostoses (SCD) are a clinically and genetically heterogeneous group of disorders characterized by defects of vertebral segmentation and rib abnormalities. We report on the diagnosis of two siblings with SCD. Diagnosis was first made in a female infant following a pregnancy that was complicated by early fetal hydrops and a nuchal translucency of 8.2 mm in the first trimester. The clinical picture was complicated by the co‐existent diagnosis of confined placental mosaicism (CPM) for tetrasomy 9p. To our knowledge, this is the first report of CPM for tetrasomy 9p. Postnatally the diagnosis of SCD was made on the basis of radiographic findings comprising multiple anomalies of the cervical and thoracic vertebrae and multiple fused and dysplastic ribs. Radiographic investigation of other family members showed that the infant's 4‐year‐old sibling had fusion of four ribs on the right side, indicating a less severe form of SCD. Testing of the genes DLL3, MESP2, and LFNG did not identify a mutation, suggesting that the siblings may have a new molecular subtype of SCD. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


Genotype by environment interaction (GxE) is known as a differential response to changes in environmental conditions for individuals with different genetic background. Accounting for this effect could help improve genomic prediction for several traits in the dairy industry. We obtained 11,747 intra-herd-year-season daughters-yield-deviation for milk yield, for a total 482 Holstein bulls. Bulls were genotyped with the Illumina 50k Beadchip. Different models were implemented in a Bayesian framework to estimate genomic, environment and GxE variance components. Environmental effect were defined as 1) the permanent environmental effect of herd-year-season, 2) a double covariate on the latitude and longitude of the farm location, 3) multiple covariates for average herd-year-season values of maximum, minimum and average daily temperatures, relative humidity, wind speed and atmospheric pressure, 4) a triple covariate for management parameters such as number of cows in the herd, percentage of Holstein cows, and number of milking times per day, 5) permanent environmental effect of the herd. Several models of increasing complexity were tested in a cross-validation scheme. Accuracy was measured as the correlation between predicted and observed phenotypic values. Models that fitted GxE often presented non-null estimates of variance components for this effect and improved predictive ability by 2 to 7%. Our study suggests that the inclusion of GxE would be beneficial for genomic predictions.


The Cu powder was prepared in distilled water. It has a wide range of size distribution. The submicron-sized particles in the Cu powder were removed by using continuous type centrifugal separator. The average particle size after classification was approximately 50㎚. The XRD analysis showed that pure Cu phase and oxide phase (Cu₂O)weremixedinthepowderpreparedbythismethod.


Social media have been widely adopted by digital natives for learning purposes due to the wealth of educational resources afforded by these platforms. As such, educational researchers and practitioners have been advocating the integration of social media in formal learning. While a majority of research has highlighted the benefits of using social media in formal education, still lacking is research that examines students' learning behaviors and experience with social media. From the perspective of self‐regulated learning, we investigate students' learning strategies in social media, as well as the relationship between using these strategies and students' learning satisfaction. Drawing on a survey of 270 undergraduate and graduate students, we found that in the formal learning context, students employed four types of self‐regulated learning strategies (i.e., goal setting, environment structuring, performance control and self‐evaluation) to achieve effective learning with social media. Among the four strategies, goal setting was most commonly used. Further, a regression analysis revealed that all four types of self‐regulated learning strategies were significantly related to students' learning satisfaction with social media, while goal setting was the most prominent strategy. This article concludes by presenting limitations as well as implications for research and practice.


WITHIN ITS BOUNDARIES, comparative education includes a variety of topics. As a discipline, however, its hallmark is certainly its comparative methodolgy. Accordingly, this paper seeks to assess the quality of comparison in comparative education. It will examine both the prescriptive statements of leading practitioners and the actual practice of comparison as presented in articles and book reviews of three journals relevant to the discipline; the Comparative Education Review, Comparative Education, and the International Review of Education. In line with the general purpose of this special issue of the Comparative Education Review, it will focus primarily upon the American branch of the discipline. As a means of inquiry, comparison is not new. Indeed, the pedigree of this particular methodology reaches back to the origins of the natural sciences. In fact, some of the crucial theoretical problems facing contemporary comparative education, particularly those of classification, terminology, and morphology, were confronted by the practitioners of these early sciences and have analogies if not exact parallels in the taxonomic manuals of chemistry, geology, and biology of the not too distant past.' Having resolved these problems, these disciplines have progressed to quite high levels of theoretical knowledge. This paper will argue, therefore, that comparative education might improve its theoretical underpinnings through careful study of their


This paper establishes a formation mechanism model of leapfrogging technological innovation based on path-transforming.Technology and market are taken as the exterior influencing factors;technological asset(including technological resource and technological capability),and organizational asset(organizational learning,organizational culture and organizational process),are taken as the interior influencing factors.We probe into the influencing factors from three stage of formation,span and realization so as to find the formation mechanism of leapfrogging technological innovation based on path-transforming.


Benzylic azomethine ylides (y) generated by deprotonation of the corresponding tertiary amine N-oxides (1a, 1b, 4) react intramolecularly with the suitably positioned unactivated double bond to yield ther corresponding fused membered pyrrolidines (2a, 2b, 5). A competitive evolution of the ylide is obseerved at low temperature leading to the corresponding head to head piperazines (3, 6, 8)


The pre-experimental study with Participation Action is aimed at the rehabilitation of chondromalacia femoro patellar in adolescents. To carry out the work, we start from an intentional sample consisting of four adolescents, made up of females and two males who attend the Calixto Garcia de Holguin therapeutic area, with the purpose of elaborating a community physical therapeutic alternative. It was developed in four stages: diagnosis, elaboration, implementation and evaluation. In the elaboration, methods of the theoretical, empirical and mathematical-statistical level were used, as well as the use of diagnoses that allowed verifying that the entire sample presents chondromalacia femoro patellar grade 1, after the execution of the physical therapeutic alternative in the therapeutic area. Four adolescents undergoing treatment are rehabilitated. This alternative constitutes a contribution for professionals since it serves as a guide for improvement, based on a theoretical-methodological systematization.


On the basis of the brief introduction of the AC servo-drive system,photoelectric encoder and grating signal,whose processing circuit was designed by the FPGA have been put forward,and the FPGA APA300 is produced by ACTEL.The circuit consists of four sub-octaves,identifying the direction and counting circuit.It introduced the design processing and gave a detailed simulation of the circuit and waveform.


The design of low-complexity soft-input soft-output (SISO) linear equalizer (LE) for turbo equalization can be classified into two categories: the Cat-I assuming random a priori soft input (from the decoder) and the Cat-II treating the a priori input deterministic. There is a lack of systematic comparison between the two categories. In this letter, a comprehensive comparison between the two categories of SISO LE is provided for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. It is shown the two categories are equivalent for constant-modulus modulations. For non-constant-modulus modulations, however, they are generally not the same, even though the two achieve similar performance. In terms of complexity, the Cat-I is more efficient, especially for high-order modulations.


The synchronized self-motion of two camphor boats was investigated on a circular water route. Two kinds of synchronization, phase-locking and phase-oscillatory modes, could be produced by changing the temperature, the radius of the circular cell, and the mass of each boat. The nature of the synchronization is discussed in relation to the distribution of the camphor layer, which is an important factor in the driving force of self-motion. The essential features of synchronized motion were reproduced by a numerical calculation regarding the spatial distribution of the camphor layer at the air/water interface. We believe that the present results may be useful for realizing artificial motors or chemomechanical transducers, which mimic motor organs or organelles in living organisms under nonlinear and isothermal conditions.


The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of Cyperus rotundus (CR) roots and rhizomes o n seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) and picrotoxin (PTX). Pretreatment with hydroalcoholic extract of Cyperus rotundus (CR) roots and rhizomes (50 - 2 00mg/kg) induced a dose - dependent decrease in the incidence of both clonic and generalized tonic – c lonic seizures (P ≤0.05) following PTZ and PTX administration. Co - administrati on of a sub - effective dose of CR (50 mg/kg, po) with a sub - protective dose of diazepam (0.5 mg/kg, ip) increased the latency to seizure. The combination significantly enhanced per cent protection against PTZ and PTX induced convulsions. The results suggested that the anticonvulsant effect of Cyperus rotundus (CR) roots and rhizomes against PTZ and PTX induced convulsions may be mediated, at least partly, through GABA A - benzodiazepine receptor complex .


Phase field model is developed to calculate heterogeneous distributions of polarization, charge, local field, and effective susceptibility of dielectric and magnetic composites with arbitrary multicomponent microstructures. It solves electrostatic and magnetostatic equations in terms of polarization vector field in reciprocal Fourier space, with interphase boundary conditions automatically satisfied without explicitly tracking interphase interfaces. This advantage allows the model to effectively treat arbitrarily complex multicomponent composites and seamlessly incorporate evolving microstructures from composite fabrication simulations. Evolution of internal field distributions and effective properties in composites during self-assembly fabrication process is presented to demonstrate the model's capability and potential.


B.C.G. vaccination is generally considered a useful adjunct in the fight against tuberculosis. Although it does not necessarily completely protect the subject from contracting tuberculosis, it probably prevents the more severe forms of the disease such as tuberculous meningitis, miliary tuberculosis and the severe pulmonary forms of the disease. To assess the real value of B.C.G. vaccination, it is necessary to isolate the subject from contacts, until the conversion of the Mantoux tuberculin test proves effective vaccination. That B.C.G. vaccination is not completely protective against the development of tuberculous meningitis has been proved by Lorber and Menneer (1959), but that it does have considerable protective effect on the development of tuberculosis has been shown by the recent trials carried out by the Medical Research Council (1959) where the incidence of tuberculosis in the B.C.G. vaccinated group was 0-38 per 1,000 compared with 2*29 per 1,000 among those in the tuberculin negative unvaccinated group who were admitted concurrently. This represents


BACKGROUND
Convulsive status epilepticus may cause reversible neuroimaging abnormalities. These cortical changes have been reported rarely in association with nonconvulsive status epilepticus.

OBJECTIVE
To describe patients with cancer who had reversible magnetic resonance (MR) imaging abnormalities from nonconvulsive status epilepticus and whose altered mental status and MR imaging findings were initially considered to result from a structural lesion related to their underlying tumor.

DESIGN
Retrospective study.

SETTING
Department of Neurology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.

PATIENTS
Eight patients with a diagnosis of nonconvulsive status epilepticus who underwent MR imaging.

RESULTS
Enhancing cortical abnormalities were observed on MR images in 4 (50%) of 8 patients with cancer who had impaired mental status and an electroencephalogram demonstrating seizure activity. Follow-up MR images showed neuroimaging improvement or resolution in all patients.

CONCLUSIONS
Cortical enhancement on MR images in patients with cancer who have altered mental status may be due to nonconvulsive status epilepticus and not recurrent or metastatic tumor. If electroencephalography is not immediately available at initial evaluation, a trial of anticonvulsant therapy deserves consideration.


Recently Taiwan has been filled up with nostalgic fashion, which is like a new social movement or campaign that reaches into diet, clothing, accommodation, and even transportation. With such kind of atmosphere, many restaurants that boast "nostalgia" pop up in every corner of the large cities in Taiwan. The case study of the research, a nostalgic restaurant "New Taiwanese Original", was founded for this fashion. For customers who come to New Taiwanese Original, they are consuming the memory in history and tastin60g the flavor of childhood. Customers of a younger generation who were born after 1980s, while dining in nostalgic restaurants, can not only experience the past that belongs to their parents but also feel a sense of freshness differing from modern society despite the fact that they have never undergone the past age. The research probes into the social and cultural phenomenon hidden behind the flourishing of nostalgic restaurants in contemporary cities from a geographic point of view. A well-known nostalgic restaurant New Taiwanese Original in Kaohsiung was chosen, with its owner and customers as main subjects for research. Strategies through which the restaurant owner "produce" and "construct" his "nostalgic place" and the way customers interact and converse with the simulated nostalgic space will then be studied. This study tried to apply the concept of "place" and "nostalgic consumption" in geography to proceed a dialogue between theory and experience. The purpose is to provide a different thread of though t and direction in the category of geography.


Objective:To observe the two surgical methods of treatment for ovarian cysts.Methods:73 cases of ovarian cysts divided into laparoscopic surgery group(39 cases)and open surgery group(34 cases),intra-operative,post-operative,and treatment outcomes of two groups were compared.Results:The laparoscopic group blood loss,postoperative anal exhaust time,get out of bed time,hospital stay,postoperative analgesic,fever cases were less than the laparotomy group,the difference between two groups were statistically significant(P0.05).Conclusion:Laparoscopic surgery for benign ovarian cysts were feasible and safe,had the advantages of small abdominal incision,shorter hospital stay,less abdominal interference and rapid recovery,could improve patient quality of life.


Isotactic polypropylene (iPP) with high content of ~ crystalline form was prepared by adding a series of new p form nucleators. The spherulites and morphology of//farm iPP (//-iPP) were investigated by wide-angle X-ray diffraction(WAXD), polarizing microscope (PLM), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and small-angle light scattering (SALS). WAXD experimental results indicate that the amount of p form in iPP (K_x) increases with increasing /~ nucleator content from zero to 0.07 wt% or crystallization temperature T_c from 20 to 120℃ and that the highest K_x value is up to 0.95. PLM observations suggest that p spherulites exhibit bright color and that their Maltese Crosses display some concentric banding of a rather spiky, jagged character. Their !amellae are smooth and relaxed layer-plate like structure by SEM and their SALS H_v patterns arc four-petalled.


Statistical interferometer technique (SIT) is a highly sensitive optical interferometer developed by us capable of measuring sub-nanometer displacements and when applied to plant growth studies revealed nanometric intrinsic fluctuations (NIF). NIF observed in minimum time scale of several tens of seconds is strongly influenced by the environmental conditions. Our earlier experiments with rice under ozone or heavy metal stress, such as cadmium even for a short duration of one hour decreased NIF. In contrast, having a micronutrient, such as zinc increased NIF. Therefore, presence of NIF is found to be a novel phenomenon characterizing plant condition that could appear only under sub-nanometric measurement. In this study, we report the effects of adding a plant growth hormone called auxin. Roots of rice seedlings were exposed to auxin solutions of different concentrations of 0, 1, and 4 μM for 24 hours. Significant increment was seen in NIF for a concentration of 1 μM while a significant reduction was seen in NIF for 4 μM within an hour after immersion of the roots. Application of an inhibitor to auxin called TIBA also resulted in almost immediate reduction of NIF. Current results suggest for NIF affected by the enodgenous hormones to be related to growth, as the action of a growth-related endogenous hormone auxin is chemically inactivated. Thus, NIF not only could be applied to investigate and speedily assess the effects of environmental agents on plant elongation or shrinkage but also could be implicated as one of the possible mechanisms for the origin of NIF itself.


In India total coconut production was 14006500 tonnes during 2011-12, more than 80% is from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. There are many coir industries in these states. Disposal of these biomass residues is a problem, since it is difficult to burn coir waste at atmospheric condition and it take 8-10 years for decomposition. This situation makes people to focus on sustainable energy resources for waste disposal. One of the technique is Gasification, which is a thermochemical conversion process that enables conversion of coir waste into producer gas which can be used for power generation. As a raw material, coir waste have attractive potential for large scale industries and community level enterprises for power generation. With the above coconut production, the production potential per ton of waste is calculated to be 4408 kWh/ton and Energy from waste is calculated to be 2858 MW. Optimization has been made to enhance specific calorific value of producer gas in the downdraft gasifier.


The relief of suffering, it would appear, is considered one of the primary ends of medicine by patients and lay persons, but not by the medical profession.Eric Cassell [1]Treating pain has been a p...


■ To understand the process of theory building in the field of tourism security. ■ To understand the importance of theory building as part of developing appropriate strategies to control the negative impacts security incidents have on the tourism system. ■ To become acquainted with the fundamentals of tourism security theory. ■ To become familiar with the nature of security incidents. ■ To understand the array of impact security incidents have on tourists, the tourism industry, and the host community. ■ To become aware of future research directions needed in order to refine or redefine tourism security theory.


The chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is characterized by presence of the Philadelphia chromosome (Ph), originated from the translocation between chromosomes 9 and 22. This chromosome generates an abnormal protein tyrosine kinase which is responsible for tumor cell proliferation. The emergence of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has transformed the treatment of CML and imatinib being the first representative of this class. Although treatment with imatinib has reached surprising results, approximately 30% of patients exhibited resistance, especially in later stages of the disease. This fact stimulated the development of novel BCR-ABL enzyme inhibitors drugs classified as tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) of second and third generations. The TKIs have different chemical functions in their structure, and the knowledge of synthetic methods for preparation of these compounds can be a powerful tool for the development of new derivatives. The five approved BCR-ABL Tyrosine Kinase inhibitors (TKI) used in Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) are reviewed aiming the main synthetic routes, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages associated with them.


Background: The behavior in dental health is a manifestation of one's attitude towards the health of his teeth and mouth. Debris is a soft deposit that attaches to the surface of the teeth. One of the preventive efforts which should be taken to maintain the dental and oral health is by brushing the teeth. Brushing the teeth is a common way to clean debris or plaque deposits on the surface of the teeth and gums. The teeth brushing behavior is the simplest effective way to maintain the healthy teeth and mouth.
Research objective: This study aimed to find out the description of teeth brushing behavior and debris score on the 7th grade students on SMP Negeri 12 Purworejo.
Research method: This was descriptive research by using a cross-sectional approach as the data collecting method. There were 32 respondents as the samples, which were taken by using saturation sample method with 32 students as the whole population.
Research result: The results showed that the majority of respondents who had tooth brushing behavior in moderate criteria those were 21 respondents (65,62%). The total respondent who had moderate debris criterion where 52,5%
Conclusion: In this research, the 7th grade students of SMP Negeri 12 Purworejo had the moderate criterion for the teeth brushing behavior, and the debris score.

Keywords: teeth brushing behavior and debris score, 7th student


Shipper and seller are the subjects in different relations and therefore cause different civil liabilities.If the name of seller is written in the blank of B.L.shipper,the seller adapt to get the status of the shipper.This also coordinates with the requirement of the semantic quality of Bill of Lading and the effect of the right to a thing.We should interpret it according to the routine of《Incoterms2000》 and 《The Hamburger Rule》to improve the conception and liability of maritime subject in our《the Maritime Law》.


The present invention relates to a package (10) of substantially parallelepiped shape with a flexible material such as cardboard, may make display of motion, comprising a face (12) which acts as a cover and a face (14) with at least a cutout (38), characterized in that said face (12) acting as a lid, fits into said cutout (38) for locking the package in folded position.


In this paper, according to the mathematical formula, the simulation model of solar panel is built in Matlab firstly, and the effects of the temperature and light intensity on its output characteristics are analyzed. Then, the basic principle of the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) with traditional incremental conductance (IncCond) method is described, and on this basis a novel variable step IncCond method is proposed, and its control rules and flow chart are given. Finally, based on the simulation model of the solar power system, the performances of traditional IncCond method and proposed variable step IncCond method are compared. Simulation results show that the proposed method has higher tracking accuracy, better steady-state performance and low sensitivity to changes of illumination, and the output characteristics of the solar power system can be optimized effectively.


Phytoremediation is a soil cleanup technique based on physical chemical techniques, in some cases, leading to high economic costs, high energy consumption, above all, a negative effect, often reversed, in terms of safety and soil function. In recent years, different microorganisms have been found that can help decontaminate soil or water with natural or biological methods. The objective of the research is to find alternatives that allow improving the quality of domestic wastewater using plant species, the bibliographic review and the desk research were used as a method that allows to enunciate reliable bibliographies, searched from different databases, the qualitative and quantitative method. It was obtained as a result that the photoremediation used in Parroquia Unión Milagreña with the Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes Mart.) and the Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes L.), presented encouraging adequate results for the treatment of domestic wastewater. Floating macrophytes, floating plants, natural treatments, wastewater, soft systems, phytoremediation, wetlands.


Father Damien is Hawaii's best-known personage and a revered international hero. However, the empirical evidence in letters from nineteenth-century patients and administrators at the Moloka'i leprosy settlement challenges history's focus on the Belgian priest. History and literary criticism are used here to augment anthropology in unraveling a complex weave of narrative, myth, and ideology across cultures, not merely to offer an alternate history or to debunk a myth but to examine a colonial bias that influences the collective memory about the native Hawaiian.


This article describes and analyses thematically paintings and drawings of the Belgian artist Walter Swennen in the light of Freuds theory of the dream image on the one hand, and of the joke on the other. The works most characteristic of Swennens artistic approach are finally seen as "witty riddles".


Purpose of the research-The current study focuses on the impact of socio-economic factors on the personal financial planning among working women in the education sector. MethodologyFirst, the socio-economic profile of the respondents comprising seven factors is explained. Secondly, respondents' savings and investment behavior are assessed by examining the investmentperiod, preferences of investment objectives, risktaking ability, and preferences towards investment avenues. Hypotheses (H0 and HA) were framed and further tested by applying one-way ANOVA and Ttest. State wise comparison among the working women of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab is also done. Finally, the conclusions are made about the savings and investment behavior of the working women in the education sector of Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Findings-The results show that socio-economic factors affect the preference towards personal financial planning among working women. However, their impact differs state-wise. Implications- There is an urgent need to increase financial planning participation among working women. This is possible by enhancing the financial literacy level and increasing the awareness of financial products for investments. There is a need to educate them as well as encourage them to invest in investment avenues that provide higher returns. Women need to bemotivated for long-term investments for their financial well-being. Originality-The authors make determined efforts to explain the impact of socioeconomic factors on the personal financial planning among working women for their financial security in the future.


This article discusses the concept of field operational tests (FOT) and how they serve as the transition between research and development (R&D) and full-scale deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies. The California PATH Program has been given the responsibility of evaluating seven Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) field operational tests. The role of PATH is to serve as coordinator and to provided oversight, promoting information sharing among FOTs and encouraging the adoption of successful evaluation approaches.


In recent years, the commercialisation of technology has attracted considerable attention. The technology development process, from invention to commercialisation, contains numerous uncertainties and factors that influence the duration of patent commercialisation, such as appropriability, lead time, science linkage, and number of patent citations. However, most studies have neglected the relationship between organisational capabilities and the duration of commercialisation. This study used dynamic capabilities to construct a research framework for the factors that influence the commercialisation of biotechnological patents based on the primary theoretic basis of organisational capabilities. Following a literature review, this study proposed hypotheses regarding the influence that four major capabilities of an organization's dynamic capabilities have on the commercialisation of biotechnological patents. Data were collected using questionnaires distributed to companies in the biotechnology industry. Regardi...


The integrin p8 subunit was identified by cloning and sequencing of the cDNA and has been shown to associate with the (yv subunit (Moyle, M., Napier, M. A, and McLean, J. W. (1991) J. Biol. Chem. 266,19650-19658). We now present initial data on its functional properties. We produced a recombinant secreted form of wP8 and used it to raise monoclonal antibodies that recognize the MTPS complex or the PS subunit alone on the surface of melanoma cells and on 08-transfected human embryonic kidney (293) cells. Affinity chromatography experiments showed that secreted cwp8 bound to vitronectin but not to fibronectin, collagen, or fibrinogen. Supporting evi- dence that intact full-length (yvP8 could also bind to vitronectin-Sepharose was provided by performing affinity chromatography with the melanoma cell line MeWo, which normally expresses the intact pS subunit. By studying the adhesive properties of melanoma cells and P8-transfected 293 cells, we found that avp8 by itself does not promote cell adhesion on a vitronectin-coated substrate. To test the respective functional activities of the pS extracellular and cytoplasmic domains, we analyzed chimeric p8/P3 subunit constructs. The p3 subunit was chosen because full-length p3, when transfected transmembrane of


Despite the growing range of alternative corporate information
sources. the annual report remains the primary source of information
for interested users. ·companies have a social responsibility to ensure
that the information they provide. particularly in narrative form, is
both readable and understandable. This paper, therefore. reviewes the
most recent attempt at meeting this challenge: the texture index. The
texture index was applied to a sample of selected annual reports, using
the scoring rules developed by Syclserf ::mel Weetman. Our results
confirm earlier re search conclusions that annual report narratives are
difficult to read and understand by most users of Accounting
information.


Utilizatin of Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement (RAP) and Crumb Rubber Modifiers (CRM) in Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) is consistent with the concept of sustainability and a more cost-effective alternative to traditional road paving. As part of ongoing measures to stimulate the use of CRM and higher RAP contents in Ontario, it is important to characterize the performance of previous asphalt mixtures incorporating these by-products. This paper reviews previous Ontario experiences with rubberized asphalt concrete, stiffness concerns associated with increasing RAP content, and employs the Hamburg Wheel Tracking Device (HWTD) to examine the rut susceptibility of plant prepared dense-graded mixtures with 20 percent RAP, dense and gap-graded "wet process" including both both Terminal and Field Blended rubberized mixtures with 20 percent RAP. Additional conparison is made with laboratory prepared dense-graded mixtures incorporating 0, 20 and 40 percent RAP. The evaluated mixtures include Superpave 12.5 and 9.5-mm surface course mix with unmodified and polymer modified asphalt binders (PG 58-28, 64-34, 52-40P, and 64-34P). The resistance to stripping and moisture damage were also evaluated. The test results demonstrate the effectiveness of the wet-process rubberized-RAP mixtures to minimize permanent deformation, and gives an indication that the potential to incorporate higher RAP contents into such mixtures exists.


The entities that carry out their activity in today's business environment, characterized to a great extent by uncertainty, are constantly facing new challenges. Whether they react to external stimuli or global pandemics, to new technologies or anticipate new trends, their ability to change or to be reactive or proactive is tested every day. In order to achieve performance and to ensure a sustainable development through an effective governance, the Corporate Governance Code provides support. In this context, the purpose of our research was to investigate the influence of corporate governance attributes on performance. Hence, the research question of our study aimed to determine the extent to which: (1) board size, (2) the number of non-executive directors, (3) CEO duality, (4) companies size, (5) gender diversity, (6) the existence of the audit committee, and (7) the qualified opinion expressed by the external auditor influenced firm performance measured through market capitalization indicator. We included in our study 102 entities, listed on two stock markets, namely Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE) and ATHEX from two countries, namely Romania and Greece that registered in 2019 the highest growth from the European Union, taking into account the evolution of markets from 87 countries with available data. The econometric model developed in our study reflects the fact that non-executive directors, companies size and board sizes influenced performance measured through market capitalization indicator.


A public health issue, Diabetes mellitus, affects millions of people around the globe. Ingestion of foods with a low glycemic index - fiber-rich meals-such as beta-glucans, is increasing as an important alternative for diabetes control. These compounds act reducing parameters such as blood glucose, cholesterol and triglycerides, by decreasing the absorption of glucose and lipids by enterocytes and eventually promote weight loss. Beta-glucans are also described as immunomodulatory agents by stimulating phagocytosis and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, increasing host resistance to viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic infections; or production of anti-inflammatory cytokinesto return homeostasis after an immune response. Besides, some studies are also evidencing anti-tumoral activity. Beta-glucans main effect depends on their origin-yeast, plants or bacteria. Reports of collateral effects and/or toxicity associated with the use of beta-glucans are rare, which contribute to consider this compound for inclusion in a range of therapies. This review aims to evaluate the most different effects of beta-glucans in metabolic and immune systems, discussing its advantages and limitations.


Declarations of interests made at meetings at Traffic and Parking Working Party in the period 5 August 2016 - 16 August 2017. This indicate a conflict of interest with respect to one of the topics being discussed.


A new genus (Chorisomaculata), similar to Chorisoneura Brunner, 1865 with a new species (Chorisomaculata manauensis) from state of Amazonas are described. The male genitalia is illustrated.


Nearly all developmental studies of youth psychopathology assess the effects of age on risk factor-youth outcomes, yet very few examine the effects of pubertal development on developmental trajectories. Growing evidence underscores the importance of both stages of puberty (adrenarche and gonadarche) in risk for psychopathology and the need to consider these developmental stages as predictors and moderators of mental health outcomes and trajectories. The purpose of this Editorial is to provide examples of this evidence and highlight gaps in our literature base as well as opportunities for future research.


Pag. 1 Background 2 1. Lysosomal storage disease 2 Pathogenetic events in lysosomal storage diseases 2 New therapeutic options for lysosomal storage diseases 5 Gene therapy by retroviral vectors 10 2. Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB 14 Aims of the PhD thesis 16 Matherials and Methods 17 Chemicals 17 Animals 17 Western Blotting 17 Primary cortical neuronal cultures 18 Confocal immunofluorescence analysis 19 Measure of HS levels in cultured neurons 20 Statistical analysis 20 Results 21 Selective activation of ERK and JNK in the cortex of MPS IIIB mice 22 Selective downregulation of p38MAPK in the cortex of MPS IIIB mice 22 Primary cortical neurons: isolation and measure of GAGs levels 26 Activation of MAPKs in cultured neurons from MPS IIIB mice 26 Discussion 30 Conclusions 35 References 36 Acknowledgements 41 List of pubblications Villani GRD, Di Domenico C, Musella A, Cecere F, Di Napoli D, Di Natale P. Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIB: oxidative damage and cytotoxic cell involvement in the neuronal pathogenesis. Brain Research 2009;1279:99108. Visigalli I, Delai S, Politi LS, Di Domenico C, Cerri F, Mrak E, D'Isa R, Ungaro D, Stok M, Sanvito F, Mariani E, Staszewsky L, Godi C, Russo I, Cecere F, Del Carro U, Rubinacci A, Brambilla R, Quattrini A, Di Natale P, Ponder K, Naldini L, Biffi A. Gene therapy augments the efficacy of hematopoietic cell transplantation and fully corrects Mucopolysaccharidosis type I phenotype in the mouse model. Blood, prepublished online September 16, 2010; DOI 10.1182/blood-2010-04278234.


Recent works on quantum algorithms for solving semidefinite optimization (SDO) problems have leveraged a quantum-mechanical interpretation of positive semidefinite matrices to develop methods that obtain quantum speedups with respect to the dimension $n$ and number of constraints $m$. While their dependence on other parameters suggests no overall speedup over classical methodologies, some quantum SDO solvers provide speedups in the low-precision regime. We exploit this fact to our advantage, and present an iterative refinement scheme for the Hamiltonian Updates algorithm of Brand\~ao et al. (Quantum 6, 625 (2022)) to exponentially improve the dependence of their algorithm on precision. As a result, we obtain a classical algorithm to solve the semidefinite relaxation of Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization problems (QUBOs) in matrix multiplication time. Provided access to a quantum read/classical write random access memory (QRAM), a quantum implementation of our algorithm exhibits a worst case running time of $\mathcal{O} \left(ns + n^{1.5} \cdot \text{polylog} \left(n, \| C \|_F, \frac{1}{\epsilon} \right) \right)$.


Melanoma is a neoplasm notorious for its dismal prognosis and its propensity for cardiac involvement. Roughly a third of patients diagnosed with primary cutaneous melanoma develop pulmonary, osseous, cerebral or hepatic metastatic disease ante mortem. In contrast, ante mortem cardiac involvement is reported in 2% of cases but in over 50% of patients with metastatic melanoma postmortem. 1 Cardiac involvement is usually multifocal, believed to disseminate hematogenously and commonly involves the epicardium, myocardium, pericardium or may present as intracavitary tumors. 2 The surgical management of cardiac tumors can be challenging, particularly when they occur in locations that make surgical access and resection technically difficult. Recent refinements in myocardial perfusion imaging, computerized tomography, and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging help provide precise information on anatomic location, vascularity, and tumor extension into adjacent mediastinal structures. 3 Early detection of cardiac melanoma has important therapeutic and prognostic implications. We describe an asymptomatic patient with malignant melanoma and solitary extracavitary, cardiac metastasis diagnosed ante mortem. Multiple imaging modalities provided the surgeon with crucial information leading to successful tumor resection facilitating further medical management. A 56-year-old white male with a past medical history


20 We examine the recent report of Febriani et al. (2014) where the authors show changes in 21 ULF magnetic field data prior to the M7.5 Tasikmalaya earthquake occurred south of Java, 22 Indonesia, on 2 September 2009. Febriani et al. (2014) state that the magnetic changes they 23 found may be related to the impending earthquake. We do not agree that the preearthquake 24 magnetic changes shown in Febriani et al. (2014) are seismogenic. These magnetic changes, 25 indeed, are too closely related to the global geomagnetic activity disturbances to be regarded 26 as being of seismic origin. 27


This paper presents an in-depth study of the sentiment of social network communication through a deep learning-based natural language processing approach and designs a corresponding model to be applied in the actual social process. Specifically, the network can dynamically select the most important word in the current state according to the information available and achieve the accurate recognition of the dynamically changing important content in a sentence. Based on this, the semantic understanding of the whole sentence is achieved through a continuous cycle of the process. In addition, considering that the semantic representation of natural language is highly dependent on contextual information, the lack of contextual information will lead to the ambiguity and inaccuracy of semantic representation. In this paper, we study the sentiment analysis algorithms in social networks at two levels, unimodal and multimodal, and construct a text sentiment analysis model and a picture-text multimodal sentiment analysis model in social networks, respectively. By comparing the experiments with the existing models on several datasets, the accuracy of the two models exceeded the benchmark models by 4.45% and 5.2%, respectively, which verified the effectiveness of the two models. The feasibility of applying the optimized convolutional neural network recurrent optimization network to social network sentiment analysis is verified by practically applying the optimized convolutional neural network recurrent optimization network to single task and multitask and comparing other existing deep learning classifiers.


AbstractLeaks in water pipelines can create many problems, such as financial loss, environmental pollution, and public health hazards. Previous scholars and engineers have researched leak detection...


Computer-Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) systems have become prevalent for producing building design drawings. An ultimate goal of CADD systems is to automate analyses and communication of high-level design information extracted from CADD drawings, a difficult task because of the lack of CADD standards. Using standard graphic symbols attached with symbolic information can help, but locating symbols in large libraries is difficult. AUGURS is a new interactive tool designed to assist CADD users in utilizing standard symbols. The task of recognizing symbols sketched by CADD users differs from traditional pattern recognition problems in several ways. Standard libraries have over 1000 symbols, grouped into seven disciplines. The large symbol set makes training data difficult to obtain. Since AUGURS is embedded in the CADD system, it must be efficient and compact. Also, it needs to handle irregular distortion in symbols sketched by users. These difficulties are lessened by the special output format that requires AUGURS to perform only ``admissible'''' recognition, classifying the input to a small set of plausible symbols. The symbol recognition program in AUGURS is a neural network similar to the Neocognitron, but is more compact and efficient and having better recognition performance. The main thrust of the AUGURS approach is a novel network structure encoded with general knowledge balancing the discriminant power and the noise tolerance of the network. To handle large symbol sets, another thrust of the AUGURS approach is to construct a network by first building an integrated network from the internal structures of smaller networks trained on sub-tasks, and then pruning unnecessary components from this integrated network. This research contains an extensive empirical study of numerous related work varying conditions and parameters. The results demonstrate the superiority of the AUGURS approach over many alternatives, including Zipcode Nets, an unconstrained network, networks using such invariant features as Zernike moments, pseudo-Zernike moments, normalized moments, and Fourier-Mellin descriptors, the Integrated Neural Network, and the connectionist gluing approach. A practicality analysis shows that AUGURS can handle around 100 symbols, about the size of a discipline library. To enable AUGURS to handle even more symbols, future work is planned to augment it with domain-specific knowledge and other improvements.


Here, we report on modifications to the electron energy distribution function during X-mode microwave injection in argon and helium helicon plasmas. No electron heating is observed in argon helicon plasmas. Significant electron heating, Δ T e ∼ 1 eV, is observed in helium plasmas. The heating is spatially localized to the upper hybrid resonance layer. Previously absent helium ion emission lines, from states over 50 eV above the helium ion ground state, are observed with the injection of X-mode microwaves.